This week
Manchester cleared another hurdle on its road to revitalization with the
opening of the yet-to-be-named ballpark. The adjacent hotel and condominium
development are getting underway.

Itís easy
to forget that only a few years ago this would have seemed like a April
Foolís Day joke. So how did this happen, and how can we make sure that it
continues?

For
starters, Manchester is a vibrant city with a large business community and
residents with real community pride. Manchester residents were and are
hungry for a city with a lot to offer.

In the
late 1990s, when rents started to climb in Massachusetts, many companies
moved up the Interstate to the millyard. The airport made it cheap and easy
to get in and out of the city. These companies brought more people into
Manchester. Property values here started to rise. This gave many local
investors and property owners equity, which allowed them to rehab buildings.
The city stepped up with community development block grants.

Meanwhile,
more people put their money in real estate after Wall Street returns slowed
following the tech bubble burst. That investment prompted many to take a
second look at Manchester. Small retail businesses opened, restaurants
opened, supermarkets opened and chains opened, pushing up property values
and rents. The result is a business environment that makes investment in
Manchester a good deal.

Mayors
Robert Baines and Raymond Wieczorek both deserve credit for pushing public
investment in the form of the Verizon Arena, the purchase of the JacPac
property and the baseball stadium.

Like any
growth, however, there is always the chance that it will flop. The stock
market improves and money flows back there while interest rates climb,
property values drop, equity dries up and suddenly Manchester isnít such a
good deal.

There is
little that city government, or any of us, can do about these economic
conditions. However, we can make Manchester more business- and
resident-friendly so, if and when the market conditions donít favor
development, weíre able to buck the trend.

For
example, city government could do away with odd-even winter parking, make it
easier to get city approval for building permits, clean the streets after
the snow melts and improve parks. It should look at everything it does from
the perspective of how can we make it more enjoyable to live and do business
in the Queen City.